How Commercial Agents Can Market Commercial Property Today

The marketing of a commercial property today needs to be quite specific and unique.  The attributes of the property, the prevailing market conditions, and the requirements of the property owner will all have some bearing on the marketing campaign to be created.

Gone are the days of a generic marketing campaign.  To be fair to every commercial property taken to the market today, the exclusive listing process is highly important together with vendor paid marketing.  In this way you will attract the right levels of enquiry to convert inspections and eventually negotiate on a closed transaction.

Here are some tips that can be applied to the marketing process so that you can achieve a high level of well qualified enquiry.

1. Inspect and review the subject property in a comprehensive way.  Do so with due regard to the existing levels of improvements and the attraction factors that the property provides.  If you were a buyer or a tenant for the property, what would attract you to make the property enquiry that is required?  What would trigger you to lift the telephone and contact the agent?
2. When you completely understand the subject property, you can look through the local area for any competing properties that may still be on the market.  You can also look for any existing properties that may have been recently sold or leased.  Get details of any recent sales or rentals that have impact on your subject property.  This local information will be invaluable when it comes to client conditioning, and future negotiation.  The buyers and tenants that are in the market today will understand the availability of other nearby property and the prices or rentals as the case may be.
3. Given the two previous points, you can now consider the ideal target market that will apply to the subject property.  From that target market, you can construct an ideal and comprehensive marketing plan.  I go back to the point made earlier, where the landlord or property owner should be required to give vendor paid marketing funds to you as part of the marketing effort.  It is quite normal for one per cent of the expected sale price to be the contribution required of the property owner towards the marketing campaign.  It is very wise to get these funds paid in advance into your trust account or client advertising account as part of the preparation for marketing.
4. Determine the duration of the marketing campaign given the known target audience and the complexity of the property.  How long will it take you to reach the target audience and activate the right level of enquiry?  In most circumstances, this can be achieved in a period of eight weeks.  For this reason, most marketing campaigns can be focused on an eight week time frame, with suitable adjustments during that time frame as enquiry comes in.  You will know during that period if the right messages are being conveyed to the local business community and target market.
5. If the local property market is saturated with similar properties of similar type, then you will need to adjust the marketing campaign after the initial eight week period.  If the property is to remain on market for an extended period then a secondary strategy will be required.  That being said, the initial eight week marketing focus should have created some form of substantial enquiry for you to establish market feedback and potentially some offers.
6. Mix your marketing efforts across a number of media types and media strategies.  We all know that the Internet has a major role to play when it comes to the marketing of commercial and retail property today.  In your local area, you should know the strategies that work best when it comes to marketing property and generating enquiry.

From the earlier comments made above, you will have noted that the exclusive listing strategy is a key component of marketing commercial and retail property today.  A good exclusive listing marketing campaign will always create more enquiries and hence give you a better chance of converting a lease or a sale as the case may be.

When you work with and on exclusive listings you will be building a database of well qualified buyers and tenants in your location and industry.  Over time this will lift your conversion factors and potential commissions.  If the property owner wants to list their property openly across a number of agencies, it can be a complete waste of time from your perspective.  Some top agents will not normally work with open listings for this very reason.